


Hell or High Water

by loststarlight



Category: Hell or High Water (2016)
Genre: Break Up, F/M, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Break Up, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 14:01:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16389056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loststarlight/pseuds/loststarlight
Summary: Was it the trick of the light?Or a shot in the dark?Was it hell or high water that broke our hearts?To fall in love is easy, to fight for this love is not.In which Toby finds love and loses it...or is he?





	Hell or High Water

**Author's Note:**

> It feels like it took me years to finish and edit this and I'm happy to finally post it :)  
> I was inspired by the song "Hell or High Water" from Passenger and too many feelings for Toby Howard.  
> He deserves so much more love! 
> 
> Anyway the wonderful GoingKnowhere helped me editing it and did the betaing for which I'm forever thankful! ♥
> 
> I hope you guys like it and it would mean a lot, if you're so kind to leave a comment here <3

The red taillights disappeared into the dark of the night.  
His heavy boots stopped on the gravel road and, with a heavy sigh, his legs finally gave out and he sunk down into the dirt.  
Your raised voice had filled the air for too long; the sudden silence made his ears tingle and he couldn’t process it correctly.  
It felt like the endless loop of noise after standing too close to a fired gun.  
When he closed his eyes, he could make out your reddened, tear-streaked face and swollen lips, spouting words of hurt and disbelief.  
He had watched silently as you packed your things and went out the door to your car, leaving him with a choked out “I love you. I can’t go on like this. I just can’t.  
You don’t love me anymore and we both know it’s true. Have a good life, Toby Howard. Goodbye.”  
  
And only now.  
Now as he kneels in the dirt of the road, which leads to the old, small house near the city, does he understand.  
He finally understands that he lost you.  
Seconds passed.  
Minutes passed.  
Until they become hours and the cold of the night crept into his abused bones... your voice finally falling silent in his mind.  
Only then did he stand up to make his way back to the house.  
It was quiet, too quiet and it felt wrong; like all the life was sucked out of it...like you took every single bit of happiness and light with you and he was left with nothing but darkness.  
His body hit the couch a few moments later, his mind drifted off to the past.

_> >_  
_The sun shines brightly through beige curtains in front of the open window, a soft summer breeze playing with them._  
_He blinks open his eyes, which aren’t tired for the first time in years and a soft smile spreads over his chapped lips as he sees you lying next to him._  
_Goosebumps are rising on your arms from his fingertips and you slowly wake up._  
_It takes you a few more breaths before your beautiful eyes open and are looking right back at him._  
_The smile that forms on your soft lips steals the breath from his lungs for a second._  
_And soon after it’s not only your smile but your lips on his and your wandering hands on his skin._  
_ <<_

His eyes are crusty as he slowly wakes with a pounding head and your name on his lips.  
You were the first nice person he met after shit hit the fan when his brother died half a year ago.  
He had finished the farm house as promised and arranged a good life for his family.  
Then he left.  
He left his old life behind and started a new one.  
New Town.  
New Name.  
Same old clothes.  
  
It wasn’t hard to find work.  
He knew how to work on a farm and how to handle a gun, but people around here were sceptical and it was hard for him to find his footing.  
Then...then he met you.  
You were on your way to Louisiana and stopped in Orange for a full night of rest, a cold beer and some steak with fries.  
The moment after you had set your foot inside the small diner, he couldn’t take his eyes off you.  
There was something about you, something that drew him near to you like a bug to a light.  
You had tried to ignore his looks for some time, but in the end you couldn’t help yourself.  
These bright blue eyes in that haggard,dirty face aroused your interest and so it didn’t take long before you invited him over to your table and light conversation was replaced by some heavy flirting.  
You stayed the whole night with him, talking about everything.  
Two weeks and the planned visit to your family later, you stood with a few personal belongings and clothes at his door, offering him something totally new:  
Love and Happiness.  
  
The two of you were everything but a normal, quiet, small town couple.  
You fought loudly and, more than once, an angry neighbour called the cops to finally silence your shouting.  
But after every fight you forgave each other and learned something new.  
You never gave up on this.  
After every storm and hard month, there was hope that the next month would be better and your love only grew stronger.  
It was a simple life and not easy most of the times, but he knew a thing or two about a hard life and the two of you made it work.  
It wasn’t much, but it was yours and both of you felt, for the first time in awhile,happy again.  
And then... it all went to hell.

_Was it the trick of the light?_  
_Or a shot in the dark?_  
_Was it hell or high water that broke our hearts?_  
_Was it something we did?_  
_Or just a cruel twist of fate?_  
_Was it hell or high water and is it too late?_

He didn’t know how long he stared at the dusty ceiling after waking up, but it felt like an eternity.  
His blue eyes wandered around the room until they fell on the framed picture of you two.  
Both of you in fine, fanciful clothing and laughing faces full of happiness.  
The golden bands on your fingers shine brightly in the sunlight and the small bouquet of cornflowers in your left hand make you look like an otherworldly being.  
You were so beautiful in your grandmother's wedding dress, passed down from generation to generation.  
He had started crying when he saw you at the end of the isle.  
So he’s lost in the memory of your wedding that he didn’t hear the car pull up nor the opening and closing of the front door.  
Only as he feels someone else next to him, does he comes back to his senses, jumping to his feet.  
“I’m sorry....” Tears are fighting their way out and he can’t seem to stop them as they’re running down his cheeks.  
And then he’s in your arms, your soft voice mumbling “I love you” and “everything will be alright” into his hair and he believes it.

He believes you and, for the second time in his life, he believes in love.


End file.
